Thousands witness ‘Theerthodbhava’ in Talakaveri

MADIKERI: Thousands of devotees witnessed ‘Talakaveri, which occurred at the scheduled time of 6.43pm, at Talakaveri, the origin of River Kaveri, today.

Religious rituals were performed from afternoon. The priests continuously chanted vedic hymns sitting in a row near Brahmakundike. They sprinkled holy water on devotees, soon after ‘Theerthodbhava’ occurred. Devotees arrived with cans, pots, tins and bottles to fill the holy water.

The Madikeri-Talakaveri main road was done up to facilitate smooth traffic movement. Police made elaborate arrangements to regulate the movement of devotees and vehicular traffic.

The Kodagu district administration had made elaborate arrangements and the police had deployed personnel for security around the hill temple, with barricades put up at various points.

Dozens of CCTV cameras were installed at vantage points and movement of private vehicles was regulated from Bhagamandala to Talakaveri to ease congestion.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) ran special buses between Bhagamandala and Talakaveri following restrictions on the movement of private vehicles.

The ‘Theerthodbhava’, an annual ritual to mark the gushing of water from a spring in a tank in Talakaveri, considered to be the source of river Kaveri, draws devotees from not only Kodagu, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Mandya, but also neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.